Elder Barsanuphius of Optina

Victor Afanasiev Elder Barsanuphius (1845–1913), a disciple of Elder Anatole (Zertsalov) and Elder Nektary, was a highly cultured man and a successful colonel before entering the monastic life at a relatively late age. Due to his purity of heart and spiritual sobriety, he was transformed by God into a grace-filled Elder virtually overnight. The period before the first World War and the Russian Revolution was a complex one. The world was seething in unprecedented passions, and one could clearly sense the approach of darkness. With a sympathetic soul Elder Barsanuphius attended to the world, and the Lord parted a curtain before him, showing him the horrors of the future.   “We live in a difficult time; we are weak and infirm but we have to encourage others. And here I am in the same condition, weak and infirm. I myself need help and consolation, but according to the obligation of my rank I have to comfort those who turn to me. They come to Optina from a world that no longer moans, as bef